FirefinderFire lookouts of the US

Fire lookout · Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana

Kisatchie Lookout

A 1933 Forest Service steel tower in Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana, retired from fire watch in 1982; the register and a second source disagree on its height and build date.

Visit & stay

Not rentable. As far as we know, this lookout cannot be booked for overnight stays.

Access

Access unknown

We do not know the access rules. Check with the land manager before you go.

Can you climb it?
Unknown
Road to the top?
Unknown
Staffing
Unknown

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Cab on a towerSteel Aermotor LX-25 tower; original ladder replaced with stairs in 1952The design: Aermotor LX-24 / LX-25
Built of
Steel
Built
1933
Height
100 ft (30.4 m)
Elevation
367 ft (112 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana
Coordinates
31.45561, −93.18128
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-la-kisatchie

View from the cab

What you see from the cab: every ridge out to about 93 miles, the named peaks in sight, and other fire lookouts within view, worked out from terrain data in your browser.

Downloads about 3.0 MB of terrain data the first time.

Or see what it could see on the map: the ground in its line of sight.

History

Then and now

  1. 1933 BuiltBuilt by the U.S. Forest Service, per the registerSource: nhlr.org
  2. No record between 1933 and 1952
  3. 1952 AlteredOriginal access ladder replaced with stairsSource: nhlr.org
  4. No record between 1952 and 1982
  5. 1982 EventForest Service fire suppression use ended; state overflights took over the taskSource: nhlr.org
  6. No record between 1982 and 2011
  7. 2011 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered February 2, 2011 as US 901, LA 5; nominated by Geoffrey R. LehmannSource: nhlr.org
  8. TodayStandingIt still stands, as far as our sources know.

Old maps of this spot

USGS topographic maps from the years a lookout stood may show it, often as a small symbol labelled “Lookout”. See the old topo maps around it on the Firefinder map, or find every scanned sheet of this spot on USGS TopoView (click the spot there to list them, with dates and downloads).

Story

Researched 8 Oct 2026, fact-checked.

The Kisatchie Lookout stands in the Kisatchie National Forest in Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana.1 The U.S. Forest Service built it in 1933, and the register page carries a 1934 Forest Service photo of the tower.1 The register describes a steel Aermotor LX-25 tower 99 feet 9 inches tall, and says the original climbing ladder was swapped for stairs in 1952.1

The register says the Forest Service used the tower for fire control until 1982, when state overflights took over that job.1 The sources I checked do not name the people who staffed it or any fire it helped to spot.

Another source tells a different story. It says the national forest put up an 82-foot steel structure with a 7-by-7 cab in 1951 and 1952.2 The register's 1933 date and 99-foot height do not match that account, and I could not settle which one is right.1,2

Wikipedia's list of Louisiana lookouts describes Kisatchie as still standing and in active use, with no date attached.3 The register listed the tower on February 2, 2011, as US 901, LA 5, and names the Kisatchie Ranger District among its cooperators.1

I found no source saying whether the cab is open to visitors or whether the public may climb it. Anyone planning a visit should check with the Kisatchie Ranger District first and stay off the structure unless access is clearly posted.

  1. Kisatchie Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/la/kisatchie-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. Kisatchie - Forest Lookouts, Central US Lookouts, https://centraluslookouts.weebly.com/kisatchie.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  3. List of fire lookout towers in Louisiana, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fire_lookout_towers_in_Louisiana (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

2010 photo
2010 photo (2010)Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
1934 photo
1934 photo (1934)Photo: U.S. Forest Service, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source

Photos keep their own rights and are shown with credit. Is one of these yours? You can ask for a different credit or for removal.

Sources

  1. National Historic Lookout Register (NHLR) Gave us: name, location, elevation, type, what it is built of, status, register numbers, agency, ownership, dates, photos, links National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved (American Resources, Inc.); facts extracted only, no prose copied. · retrieved 4 Oct 2026
  2. Wikipedia: per-state fire lookout tower lists with coordinates Gave us: county, links Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikipedia). Facts only (parish/county, nearest town, coordinates, status); the article's own prose/notes are not reproduced, per this project's policy. · retrieved 4 Oct 2026
  3. FOREST LOOKOUTS -- central US (centraluslookouts.weebly.com) Gave us: height, links centraluslookouts.weebly.com · No licence stated; facts only (county, coordinates where the page's own map widget gives them, status, height, design hints, register links). The site's own historical quotes, newspaper citations and narrative are not reproduced. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  4. OpenStreetMap -- fire lookout structures Gave us: links © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL 1.0. (c) OpenStreetMap contributors. · retrieved 4 Oct 2026
  5. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, height, agency, dates, links, fact-check Firefinder research (sources cited in the story footnotes) · Our own research notes; each fact cites its source in the lookout's story

More about this lookout elsewhere

Firefinder takes facts (places, dates, numbers) from these sources and writes its own words. See all sources and licences.